With Financial Tactic, Corzine Would Keep Turnpike Public, Toll Increases and All

By KEN BELSON

Published by the New York Times, May 30, 2007

Who knew that the New Jersey Turnpike, the state’s congested artery that commuters love to hate, was so beloved?

In the months since Gov. Jon S. Corzine began exploring ways to capitalize on the state’s assets and pay off billions of dollars in debt, a coalition of legislators, environmentalists and drivers have come out against any plan that would include leasing the Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway to private investors.

Long before Mr. Corzine could unveil a proposal, these opponents warned that private investors would increase tolls to unreasonable levels, let the roads fall into disrepair and stymie any efforts by the state to expand its highways.

Yet Mr. Corzine, a shrewd former investment banker, appears to have found a more palatable solution that lets the state raise billions of dollars while keeping the highways in public hands. At a news conference last week, Mr. Corzine said he and State Treasurer Bradley I. Abelow were considering “an entirely different kind of proposal” that involved creating a public benefit corporation.

One option is for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to raise tolls and divert only the increased revenue to a newly formed public corporation, which would then issue bonds backed by that money. The amount of the bonds would be based on the value of the toll increases.

See full article from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/nyregion/30pike.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

With Financial Tactic, Corzine Would Keep Turnpike Public, Toll Increases and All

By KEN BELSON

Published by the New York Times, May 30, 2007

Who knew that the New Jersey Turnpike, the state’s congested artery that commuters love to hate, was so beloved?

In the months since Gov. Jon S. Corzine began exploring ways to capitalize on the state’s assets and pay off billions of dollars in debt, a coalition of legislators, environmentalists and drivers have come out against any plan that would include leasing the Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway to private investors.

Long before Mr. Corzine could unveil a proposal, these opponents warned that private investors would increase tolls to unreasonable levels, let the roads fall into disrepair and stymie any efforts by the state to expand its highways.

Yet Mr. Corzine, a shrewd former investment banker, appears to have found a more palatable solution that lets the state raise billions of dollars while keeping the highways in public hands. At a news conference last week, Mr. Corzine said he and State Treasurer Bradley I. Abelow were considering “an entirely different kind of proposal” that involved creating a public benefit corporation.

One option is for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to raise tolls and divert only the increased revenue to a newly formed public corporation, which would then issue bonds backed by that money. The amount of the bonds would be based on the value of the toll increases.

See full article from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/nyregion/30pike.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Critic Says Levee Repairs Show Signs of Flaws
New York Times, May 7, 2007, By JOHN SCHWARTZ

Some of the most celebrated levee repairs by the Army Corps of Engineers after Hurricane Katrina are already showing signs of serious flaws, a leading critic of the corps says.

The critic, Robert G. Bea, a professor of engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, said he encountered several areas of concern on a tour in March.

The most troubling, Dr. Bea said, was erosion on a levee by the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, a navigation canal that helped channel water into New Orleans during the storm.

See entire article.

9 Die as Tornado Tears Apart Kansas Town

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 4:33 p.m. ET, May 5, 2007

GREENSBURG, Kan. (AP) -- Most of this southwest Kansas town was destroyed by a tornado, part of a violent storm system blamed for at least nine deaths, officials said Saturday amid warnings of more severe weather.

It may take days for emergency crews to remove all the victims -- dead and alive -- from the rubble of homes and businesses, the city administrator said Saturday. See article here.

Dealing with Sensitive Security Information

One of the most difficult challenges to providing security for critical infrastructure is the management of information about it that could fall into the wrong hands. Since the 9/11 attacks, maps and other "Sensitive Security Information" or "SSI" documents related to dams, electric power grids, nuclear power plants, transportation networks, etc. have been removed voluntarily from publicly-available websites by public agencies other owners of infrastructure. But what about documents describing the design and operation of these critical infrastructures for use by legitimate contractors and agency staff members--who should be allowed to see them, and who shouldn't? What systems can be put in place to ensure that information flows directly between those who have the information and those who seek it for the "right" reasons--and kept from those who want it for the "wrong" reasons?